Keeping cool at home

Even though my last post was about snow and storms (and the current weather promises more of the same) hot weather will be upon us soon enough. Time to review the precautions.

Remember it won’t last a long time, as these things go, even with the climate change now upon us. A few days. Maybe ten days … then it will lessen. Keep going, enjoy what you can! Below, I list lots of ways you can help you and your family to do exactly that.

Protection from the sun, by the way, is another post, this is about heat, which we can suffer from even indoors, or in the shade.

The house
There are two schools of thought on having the windows open on the sunny side. Open or shut? I suggest both curtains and windows should be shut on the sunny side, until the sun moves. And keep every window open that isn’t exposed to the sun, or only partly exposed, to cool the house and set up a good through draft.

People are unanimous about the importance of creating a through draft, by opening windows on opposite sides of the house. Make sure none of the doors in between are closed, or can swing shut, by wedging them. For some people, especially in ground floor flats or bungalows, open windows can create noise problems, or even security problems. Locking double glazed windows open can help a fraction, but not much, unfortunately. If you’ve needed to keep the windows almost entirely shut for noise or security reasons, and wake up early because of that, then maybe use that time to open up whatever windows you can – problems are less likely early in the day, and you might be able to get some better quality sleep then.

I’ve seen home-made burglar alarms recommended in this situation – a string of empty drinks cans across the window, or groups of spoons, things like that, but the point is that by the time something like that gets set off, the burglar will already be inside, and I’m not a fan of allowing that to happen. I’d rather take more precautions against letting a burglar break in in the first place. Each to their own.

Curtains should be light-coloured, to help reflect the light and heat.

Consider running your washing machine in the evening and hang up your wet laundry near an open window – it will help with cooling by evaporation. Wetting down cheap curtains or a lightweight fabric hung on a door or a curtain rail, will do the same thing.

Run a wet mop over the tiled floors in the house, cools the rooms nicely while it evaporates! Cooling by evaporation is incredibly important in all this.

It’s been said that opening a loft hatch at night helps the hot air rise into the roof void and helps keep the bedrooms a bit cooler. I actually disagree with this, certainly in my circumstances, but it might work for some people.

If you normally sleep upstairs, but have a spare bedroom downstairs, use that, as heat rises.

If you can hang something outside your window so the sun does not shine directly on the glass it really helps. Shade blinds, like shops used to have, might become a thing!

Trees, shrubs or even a pond, near the house will help regulate your micro-climate, but be aware of other issues like providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes, or letting a tree get too big which might then fall on the house in a storm. Although none of that may be under your control, of course.

I’m hearing about “solar vinyl” for windows, which is different from privacy films, and looks the same, except that it’s reflective. I have personal experience of the privacy films, which I highly recommend, but not the solar vinyl.

Hot water thermostat

Turn it down! You don’t need to heat your hot water as much as usual when all you’re going to do is have a cool shower, so don’t bother with it. I’ve heard that a tepid hot water tank, without much throughput, creates a risk of Legionnaire’s Disease, and maybe if you live alone and don’t shower much, that might be true. In the UK in 2017, there have been 346 cases reported to date (185 confirmed).

I query how many of these are simply about a tepid hot water tank. But for most people, I think that turning down the thermostat is the best bet. If it really worries you, then get a big plastic jug to fill with cold water from the hot tap, and use it to water the garden or even flush the toilet. Do Your Own Research, though.

Electric fans

They can seem very loud at night, but they can help you sleep much more soundly, and that can become more important – it does for me on the hottest nights.

Put a bowl of ice in front of any fan you use, it will help a bit.

Switch the fan on with dry hands…..

As climate change accelerates, would you buy a ceiling fan?

The one above looks amazing – part of me thinks it could be turned into a mini-windmill, but that’s just a bit of fun – it looks like it would be a big help in really hot weather.

Activities
Most of us need to be out and about sometimes – if that’s about errands to banks and shops etc, try to get it done as early as possible.

Gardening and watering plants is similar to the above but not identical: do it early, or do it late.

Ease back on anything that’s not crucial – lots of cleaning can be delayed, for instance! Just do as little as possible and take as much time as possible to enjoy the good weather.

Move as slowly as possible. And stick up a few postcards of the Arctic or Alaska or something, photos of ice and icebergs – that helps psychologically, believe it or not.

If your work/life schedule allows, then go continental – enjoy a light siesta…sleep through an hour of the worst heat!

Stay outside (in the shade) as long as possible, it’s usually cooler: sit under a big tree, relax on your patio with your feet in a bucket of water …. be inventive!

If you need to get out for the day, bear in mind that older buildings usually have thick stone walls and high ceilings, they’re much cooler. Or any public building with air conditioning……

When you’re out and about, make sure you take some cooling tricks with you:

a freezer bag of wet flannels, or just wetwipes, that have been in the freezer. If you have a cooler with you, put them in there.

use frozen small bottles of water or cartons of juice to keep the cooler and contents chilled, rather than freezer packs. They will thaw, in time, and at least you still have something cold to drink. Pack non frozen drinks too, of course!

make up a cooling mist to spray on your face, pulse points, feet. That just means decanting a few drops of peppermint essential oil and some water into a small spray bottle that you can carry around. Though make sure you close your eyes, and take your glasses off, if you’re going to do this!

Other people

Be aware of other people, and ready to help, especially children and elderly, they find it most difficult of all to adapt to excessive heat.

Offer your postman or other delivery callers a glass of chilled water.

There’s plenty of ways to enjoy all sorts of weather, heat included. Hope you have fun – and if I’ve missed something off, please check in on the comments. The next post is about keeping your body cool, which has a whole different range of things to do.